Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Not so Habs Laughs-Max Pacioretty edition

If you’ve been following me for the past year and a bit you know that I never stray into the analytical side of things. I like to leave the commentary to the experts and choose to take a comedic approach to the Montreal Canadiens and the NHL as a whole.

I am going to post my thoughts on the Chara/Pacioretty incident and just this once cross over into the more serious side of blogging.

By now you have seen the hit from every angle; I am not going to talk about the hit.

I am going to talk about the result; I am going to talk about the health of Max Pacioretty.

What bothers me about the verdict that the NHL passed on to Chara is simply based on the fact that Max Pacioretty is still in the hospital. He will undergo serious therapy for the coming months, and will most likely never be the same player and person once he has ‘recovered’ from this ordeal. Zdeno Chara will continue on with his life as if nothing happened.

As far as I know Zdeno Chara never apologized for the incident. He stated that the incident was ‘unfortunate’, which is in no way shape or form an apology. I have no relationship with Zdeno Chara, I don’t know what he is like away from a Hockey rink, but I hope to God that he is losing sleep over this situation.

Zdeno Chara put a 23 year old kid who was just breaking into the NHL in the hospital. Whether or not it was done with intent is debatable, but at the end of the day whether or not Max Pacioretty plays another Hockey game is still in question.

I feel terrible for Max Pacioretty. I feel cheated the Zdeno Chara’s actions went unpunished-not because of the intent, but because of the result. Not from a Hockey perspective, but from a personal perspective. I’m not going to get into how the NHL justice system works; I am just stating that as a human being I feel like Zdeno Chara NEEDS to experience consequences for his actions.

I know life isn’t fair, and Zdeno Chara being able to celebrate with his teammates after goals, after winning games, after winning playoff rounds…is simply the height of unfairness.

Did the NHL drop the ball by not giving Chara any kind of punishment? I’ll leave that to the experts, I simply cannot give an objective opinion on the matter.

I know the NHL cannot give suspensions based on the fact that it is ‘the right thing to do’, but Max Pacioretty will never be the same again and it is Zdeno Chara’s fault.

14 comments:

What I hate most (aside from what Max has ahead of him, even if he completely recovers) is that there a lot of impressionable young people -- even in Quebec -- who think you can do whatever you want as you play hockey and get away with it. It isn't just what happens now or over the next year or so, it's the long-term consequences if this isn't dealt with appropriately.

If I didn't love my team so much, I'd have to wonder about continuing to support a sport that shows so little respect for those who play it and those who watch it.

I don't usually come here, and apologize for bringing the mood down on here for a second, I just had something on my mind that the discourse everywhere else was not conducive to.

As a lifelong Bs fan (and a religious supporter of the team) I want to be the first to extend the best of wishes and hopes for an expedited and full recovery for Max - that was one of the ugliest hits I've seen in my almost 21 seasons of watching the game.

I don't want to cause a commotion or stir the pot, I just want to say I feel for all of you. I've watched Bergeron, Savard, and even my favorite current player David Krejci go down to head injuries at one time or another - granted none in such a perfect storm of bad events, with such devastation, or to such fanfare.

What I do want to ask though is if it's not just myself that thinks that this entire situation highlights the perrenial undertone of little to no respect between our respective clubs - two of the most storied in NHL lore. As I watch the comments between Bruins and Canadiens fans on my home site - NESN I cannot help but to wonder just where we derailed from a healthy rivalry to blood and guts hatred of one another.

Our matches should be celebrations of the greatest teams in the NHL, and the highest-caliber of play, instead I watched as 63 Black, our head coach (who at one time worked on your respective bench) and a few others in black and red turn the hours leading up to the game into a shouting match.

As much as I hope that Max sees a speedy and full recovery, and that there will be an apology issued tomorrow - I hope that this tragic turn of events wakes some up on both sides of the rivalry to the thought that while we might not agree on many things this is only a game, and at the end of the day, the C's on your chests, and the bears on our own are insignificant because at the end of the day we are all fans of the greatest game on earth.

I would like to personally apologize for my fans' horrible behavior over the past few days, and hope that some day I can sit next to someone wearing the colors my grandfather was born to while I wear my black - without being at each others' throats all night.

I agree with the NHL’s decision not to fine or suspend Zdeno Chara. His check on Max Pacioretty unfortunately drove him into the stanchion or turnbuckle or whatever that is. Chara is not a dirty player and has never been in trouble with the league, so he should continue to play. I hope Pacioretty makes a speedy recovery from this disastrous hit.

By the way, I’ve never heard of a five-minute major penalty for interference, which is what Chara received, in addition to a game misconduct!

"By the way, I’ve never heard of a five-minute major penalty for interference, which is what Chara received, in addition to a game misconduct!"

Honestly, he deserved something for that uncalled for hit. It was a late, intentional hit. By intentional I mean that Chara did want to hit Pacioretty but I am NOT saying that he intended on causing such an injury.

wow, Christopher Lusignan you are amazing, i completely agree with everything you said.

to sportfan1981, who cares if Chara has never been in trouble with the league, why would that mean he should still play? if someone murdered someone but had a clean record his whole life, you think he'd get off murder charges because he never did anything like that before?

anyways whether it was intentionally or not, the NHL needs to take these hits seriously, its not a joke, someone is going to get killed.

The problem with the NHL's decision is that it was based on the hit and not the hand shove that followed the hip check. If Chara had not shoved his hand in Max's face, Max might of just missed the post or just hit it with his shoulder.

As for the penalty, it is in the rule book. If a referee calls an interference and views it as severe enough (injuring the player) a 5minute penalty and a game misconduct can be handed out.

Agree with Christopher Lusignan 100% - as a Habs fan in Boston, I'd love for nothing else but mutual respect for the sport between us. The cultural differences unfortunately lead to a lot of stereotyping that makes matters among fans much worse than other rivalries (even the Yanks/Sox for instance).

It's very unfortunate - but my blood boils when I listen to sports radio down here and they continuously make fun of the Canadian/French culture and history...I find it amazingly ironic that the Canadiens have more Americans on their team (including Pacioretty) than the Bruins. It's too bad this is lost on fans who from both sides have disrespected each other - including the national anthems. More respect is called for and should be demanded.

Well Said and I hope to god he gets better. Its no fair for him, he's so young and so talented and he's worked so hard to get to where he is.

But honestly, I've watched this hit a million times and I don't see how it isn't dirty? Every player who's commented on it has said they all know where the turnbuckle is. It's doubtful that Chara would be an exception.... especially considering he looking right at it and then with his hands, shoved him into it.

Maybe if he'd used his body instead of hands/arms I'd give him some consideration but you have too much control over your hands to hit someone the wrong way.

I think its pretty obvious he knew what he was doing. But that's my opinion....